ichigo iche

 ... is a Japanese idiom, which roughly translates to "one time, one meeting - an encounter that only happens once in a lifetime", 

which is perhaps the single most important idiom that kept me from taking things for granted, especially in that one year we were in the UK. 

Somehow, having an end date, or rather knowing that your days are numbered really helps in making sure you soak in every single day like it's your last. You tend to celebrate each day that comes and become more attentive and observant - afraid that you would somehow miss something that may never repeat itself. You also hype your achievements, no matter how little, because there is no guarantee for those successes -- no matter how little, to repeat themselves.

But now that we're back home, life repeats itself on the daily and it's difficult to view the world with that same wondrous and positive outlook as I had last year - like I keep wondering, is this something really worth celebrating? 

Like I said in my earlier post, it's been a little over a year since our return. And likewise, it's been a little over a year since I reported back to the office to resume my duties as a Public Officer, which simply means I survived the first year of serving my 3-year bond! And that really is some cause for celebration, but still... deep down, I've long abandoned that celebratory trait in me, which I so cherished in the previous year, because I know for a fact that the life we came back to, came without it.

Be that as it may, I do hope that I would some day find the excitement in ichigo iche again. Or that I come to the realisation that even my every day mundane deserves the same kind of celebration.